Lost

"Aaron, are you feeling well?" The dimly lit restaurant held a worn-out Aaron, his appearance weathered by the hardships of life. Dark circles under his tired eyes, rough skin, and disheveled hair spoke of a man beaten down by circumstances.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Aaron replied, his gaze unfocused as he sat across from the girl who cared deeply for him. Her concerned eyes, a deep blue pool of worry, searched his face.

"You're not fine... What happened this time? Tell me!" Her voice cracked with emotion.

"It's nothing, just Josh being Josh!" Aaron responded, attempting to summon a smile that only came out as a strange grimace.

Linda fell silent, granting him a moment's respite. She rose from her seat and disappeared into the depths of the restaurant's kitchen.

...

"Here, eat and don't even try to fake a smile," she said, setting a plate of spaghetti before him.

Aaron glanced at the food and chuckled. "You really don't know how to cook anything else, huh?" he jested, trying to inject a bit of levity into the heavy air.

"Give it back," Linda reached out, but Aaron clung to the plate like a famished wolf, his hunger overpowering any sense of politeness. "No backsies!" he declared after the first bite, a glimmer of his old self breaking through.

"When will that damn contract end?" Linda asked, her voice tinged with frustration. "If only you had a good lawyer back then, that bastard wouldn't have tricked you!" Her face betrayed her true emotions—an undercurrent of anger.

"It's too late now," Aaron sighed, a weight settling on his weary shoulders.

"I'll think of something!"

...

"LINDA!" Aaron sprinted towards the restaurant, beads of sweat streaming down his face.

"Sir, please step back!" a police officer blocked his path, but it was too late—the grim scene inside was already etched into his mind.

"FUCK!" Aaron screamed, his voice a raw expression of anguish. Blood, there was too much blood. The sight within the restaurant chilled him to the core.

Multiple police officers struggled to restrain him, their collective strength barely able to quell his frantic state.

"A mountain lion somehow made its way into the city, finding its way into the restaurant," a reporter relayed the tragic events. "Whether it was the scent of food or some other lure, tragically, it managed to enter and found a lone woman in its path." The reporter sighed, grief coloring their voice. "Linda Marshall, 25 years old, found dead on the premises."

Aaron's heart shattered as he absorbed the devastating truth, tears mingling with his profound sorrow. The weight of loss pressed upon him, engulfing him in an ocean of grief.

The wails of anguish tore through the air as Aaron's cries echoed with pain and despair. His heart, once filled with hope and love, now shattered into a million irreparable fragments. Memories of their shared moments flooded his mind, vivid and bittersweet.

The police officers held him tightly, their grip a feeble attempt to contain his overwhelming grief. Aaron fought against their restraint, his body wracked with tremors as he desperately tried to break free and reach Linda, as if there was still a chance to save her.

But reality crashed down upon him, unyielding and cruel. Linda, his beloved Linda, was gone—forever stolen from his grasp. The weight of regret and guilt settled upon his shoulders like an unbearable burden, suffocating him.

His vision blurred, tears streaming down his anguished face, blurring the world around him. The vibrant hues of life turned gray, matching the desolation within his shattered soul. The restaurant, once a place of shared laughter and warmth, now stood as a haunting monument to loss.

Time seemed to slow as Aaron's mind replayed every conversation, every smile, every touch they had shared. Linda, the woman who had brought light to his life, who had believed in him when no one else did, was taken away in an instant, leaving an emptiness that could never be filled.

As the reality settled, Aaron sank to his knees, his body shaking with each gut-wrenching sob. The sound of his cries merged with the distant wails of sirens, a haunting symphony of grief that reverberated through the depths of his shattered heart.

At that moment, the world ceased to exist. The bustling city, the noise of traffic, the everyday distractions—all faded into insignificance. There was only Aaron, consumed by an immeasurable pain that seemed to consume his very being.

The tragedy of their unfinished story gnawed at him—a tale that would never have its proper ending. The words left unsaid, the dreams left unfulfilled, all lost in the void of what could have been. A profound sense of longing washed over him, mingling with the profound ache of loss.

Through tear-streaked eyes, Aaron gazed at the lifeless restaurant, the place where their hopes and dreams had intertwined. In that hallowed space, he whispered words that would forever remain unheard, his voice carrying a love that transcended time and tragedy.

"I'm sorry, Linda... I failed you," he choked out between sobs, his voice trembling with a mixture of grief and remorse. "I will carry your memory with me always, in the depths of my broken heart. Until we meet again, my love..."

And there, in the heart-wrenching aftermath of loss, Aaron found himself forever altered—a shattered soul adrift in a world that felt cold and empty without her. The pain etched deep within his being, a constant reminder of a love lost but never forgotten.